Brittney Griner is being detained in Russia

What an idiot.

They may kill Her

I can't imagine being in a Russian prison, especially as a Black lesbian.

They have had her detained for three weeks now and are threatening her with at least 10 years in prison for a vape cartridge. She was arrested right before the start of the invasion. I think at this point it's safe to say that it is a Russia strategy and she is a pawn in the games they are playing.

She is a legit superstar in the world of basketball.

Here we go.

And good luck to the State Department, negotiating her release.

Collateral damage of a dictator with a profoundly damaged mind.

If this is true, carrying any contraband at the Russian border is sheer stupidity.

Russians especially don’t care for black women

[quote]The Russian Federal Customs Service said Saturday that its officials had detained an American basketball player after finding vape cartridges that contained hashish oil in her luggage at the Sheremetyevo airport near Moscow.

Do we really trust the charges though?

Russia has an epidemic of serious drug use and overdoses. Charging people with drug smuggling and threatening them with a decade in prison for a couple "hasish oil" vape cartridges is not normal.

Thats a man, baby.....

Many women basketball players also play in Russia during the WNBA offseason.

Why go near Russia?

There will be a huge push to free her. the NBA and every other sports league with be trying to help and she has a big contract with Nike and multiple other major sponsors.

R13 many athletes play in Russia. sounds like she was trying to leave when the US started warning citizens that the invasion was about to start.

And remember, the WNBA essentially told their players to stay out of Russia and the Ukraine because of the political instability. Since the time frame is so muddy, I doubt she went there after that, but who knows. Maybe she thought she was above it.

[quote]Why go near Russia?

USA Today: "Griner has made as much as $1.5 million a year in Russia, while she had a base salary of $215,000 last season for the Mercury."

This supposefly happened Feb. 3.

Could she be that stupid?

Or is this a ploy?

Has any of her family heard from her?

If she did have hash oi, then leave her there.

Fuck Putin trying to force Biden’s hand during this bullshit invasion.

It always used to piss me off growing up, hearing about Americans in dangerous parts of the world after being warned not to go/stay and then expecting Americans to possibly risk their lives getting them out.

I can totally picture her being set up. I mean it wouldn’t be the first time a cop has planted drugs.

But it also wouldn’t surprise me that a young person who is a superstar also bends the rules a bit. Either way, this is huge.

The chances she’s being falsely accused and detained on bogus charges are pretty freakin’ good, at this point.

She was a walking duck from the moment the State Department issued their GTFO of Russian/Ukraine announcement.

I doubt she vapes.

Total set up

R21, she was caught at another airport with vape cartridge. Majority of the NBA and WNBA smoke weed. They are top athletes and needed to calm down

[quote] The chances she’s being falsely accused and detained on bogus charges are pretty freakin’ good,

bull. Another jock decided the rules don't apply to her

This has nothing to do with Ukraine.

She's being held hostage till the Olympic Committee delivers Kamila Valieva's gold medal.

"There is a precedence for this and it doesn't look good."

tit-4-tat...

When she was playing college basketball at Baylor, she had a reputation for having bad sportsmanship and being a dirty player. She was suspended for a couple of games for punching a Texas Tech player in the face and breaking her nose. Not that I think she should be held hostage and used as a pawn, but it's not surprising that she ended up in this situation.

No dust, no lust, no bust.

who cares? stupid.

R19

Agree completely.

r4, bingo!

r25, one has nothing to do with the other.

r28, her alleged sporstmanship has nothing to do with why they say she's being detained.

stupid!

[quote]her alleged sporstmanship has nothing to do with why they say she's being detained.

But her physical altercation with another player and her arrest for fighting with her fiancee do show that she has poor impulse control, which could have something to do with why she's detained.

Still, I certainly wouldn't be surprised if the Russians are lying.

Oh, please.

Hypothetically replace Griner with a hot, white male. Or, a white male with a family and children.

Given the racists here at the DL that have settled in and become comfortable, I know the opposite outcry would be heard: "Set up", or, "He's supporting his family by playing in Russia".

And yes, I know and believe that some who are critical of Griner are able to be so without them being bigots.

I'm among them, but my exasperation is directed ALL Americans who are in these hot zones. Read the room, er excuse me, the world.

A part of this, too is that elite, star, professional athletes have been conditioned to think they're exceptions to everything, and why wouldn't they? That how everybody else treats them.

Shoe couldn't afford to leave that shit in some garbage can in Russia and buy new stuff when she got back?

A hot white male athlete who attempted to enter Russia with drug paraohernalia, after clearly being advised not to by the State Department, would also be regarded as a gigantic dumbass.

She wasn't entering Russia with drug paraphernalia.

The DLers on this thread are as dumb as the ones on the other thread. You're all just making up fake facts and bitching about them.

What the fucking hell is wrong with you?

A vape pen is drug paraphernalia in Russia, toots.

Is the Reverend Jesse Jackson on his way to Moscow to secure her release yet?

R35 I was reading an article last week (will try to find it again and link it for everyone) where American basketball players were among the last to leave Ukraine. Why? Because the people they were dealing with would not release them from their contracts. They were released about time the invasion started. Why didn't they leave? Because unless they were released they could not play for another team in Europe, and this is where they make their money. Many American athletes, especially women, play for European teams during the off season because they make as almost three times as much as they do in the US. They were promised safe passage out of Ukraine. They were like the civilians when push came to shove, trying desperately to find any way out. They were strung along and left out to dry.

Is that a colored woman or man ? Even with my Walgreens readers on I can't determine.

[post redacted because linking to dailymail.co.uk clearly indicates that the poster is either a troll or an idiot (probably both, honestly.) Our advice is that you just ignore this poster but whatever you do, don't click on any link to this putrid rag.]

I wonder if they suspect her of being a spy. Who would go near Russia right now?

[quote] Is the Reverend Jesse Jackson on his way to Moscow to secure her release yet?

No, but Dennis Rodman has booked his flight.

Trump calls Putin, Putin releases her, Trump gets credit for negotiating her release, black people love him.

Is Attorney Benjamin Crump on this case yet, accusing the Russian police of racism?

These things happen.

[quote]her alleged sporstmanship has nothing to do with why they say she's being detained.

I didn't say that it did. But it does indicate that she doesn't always think through her actions.

I agree, though, that the whole situation seems suspect.

It’s too bad these women have to play all year long with basically no offseason. That must increase the risk of injury.

You'd have to be stoned all the time to tolerate being in Russia.

I here by authorize the U.S. State Department to negotiate a prisoner exchange using Kelly Loeffler. Even swap.

R50, a lot of the teams in Europe are owned by money laundering organizations, which explains why they give such big salaries with no attendance. The Russian mob owns a lot of the teams and it becomes an ego thing to have this money losing team that is still winning championships. They also told the players that they had the same freedoms in Russia that they did in the states and they would be protected. Griner apparently believed that shit.

One owner paid Taurasi to not participate in the WNBA in the summer so she would be rested and recovered from injury when she played in his league.

Have Harry and Meghan called upon world governments to run to the struggle and release her? Because Meghan needs another five dollar donation to Archewell.

Griner was there long enough that if she really DID have hashish on her (which I kind of doubt) that she must have gotten it in Russia. Considering how many drugs they give their athletes, she may have gotten it from someone who works on or for the team.

Again, the Guardian reported she was ENTERING Russia from New York with the cartridges. I read earlier the date was February 3rd, so not three weeks ago, and in any case after the State Department advised No Travel in January.

Reporting has said TASS didn't give a date but it was likely "at least" three weeks ago.

Her last game with her team was February 1st in Russia. Why would she be ENTERING Russia on February 3rd?

I wasn't able to get the page to load before but I see now that Griner was in Salamanca, Spain on February 1st, the game was at Pabellón Municipal Würzburg, Salamanca, so if she really was flying into Russia, then she was flying back WITH HER TEAM.

I don't see how anyone could be saying that she was stupid for not obeying the State Department when she was almost certainly contractually obligated to fly back after that final game.

[quote] She was suspended for a couple of games for punching a Texas Tech player in the face and breaking her nose.

The Tech player grabbed her by the arm and swung her around. You can’t step to the big girl and then cry about it when she retaliates.

She had a couple domestic violence charges on her. If only her partner hadn't riled up the big girl and cried about it eh

Nothing that happens on the court justifies a punch in the face, Baylor fan at R59. The Big 12 should have suspended her for the season, not just one game. And it's pretty rich for Baylor to be calling any other school garbage.

[quote]Nothing that happens on the court justifies a punch in the face,

Dat white bitch disrespected her!

Leave Brittney alone bitches. She has a very calm demeanor, and values sportsmanship.

Griner pleaded guilty, completed a diversion program and therapy, and was suspended for 7 games after the domestic violence arrest seven years ago.

It's weird that people are saying that means she deserves to be held for a month in a Russian prison during wartime without anyone being informed of it, all because she had a vape pen and cartridge.

I doubt any of you even knew who Griner was 48 hours ago. It's not like you've been stewing for 7 years about her being an evil criminal who didn't do enough time. You're just now, today, in this thread suddenly very very interested in making it seem like Griner deserves what's happened to her, and doesn't deserve due process, and is automatically guilty and therefore the Russians are the good guys in this scenario.

Is she guilty? Were the drugs hers?

R64, what’s up with domestic violence and stud lesbians. So manly

[quote]It's weird that people are saying that means she deserves to be held for a month in a Russian prison during wartime without anyone being informed of it, all because she had a vape pen and cartridge.

People are pointing out that she has a history of making bad decisions. It's not wise to bring drugs into Russia, a country that's ruled by a brutal dictator and doesn't have due process.

[quote]People are pointing out that she has a history of making bad decisions. It's not wise to bring drugs into Russia, a country that's ruled by a brutal dictator and doesn't have due process.

We don't know that she did.

When people point out that Russia has a history of falsely accusing and imprisoning people, you just ignore that, yet at the same time you insist that "she's made bad decisions in the past; she's obviously guilty of this crime" is perfectly logical.

chances are she did, pe teacher.

My guess is that authorities allowed her to bring weed back and forth as a courtesy since she was a VIP but prior to the invasion Russia decided to change its tune and she was detained unexpectedly

As far as I’m concerned r59 is self defense. Please tell me the other girl was suspended too for assault. That was way beyond a foul.

Anybody would have punched someone for that kind of attack.

R54 you know way too much about those people.

Pretty clear what happened here . Idiot gets caught at the border with drugs and with the seriousness of her situation her team tries to turn her into a victim with a hostage narrative so at least she can get a book deal in a few years and get speaking gigs .

She looks like she could take on the entire Russian Army. Some of those dykes are MEAN.

Hope Vlad doesn't have her suicided.

All I know about Russian prisons is what I saw on The Bureau. But based on that, I say this bitch has what it takes to survive a Russian prison. Maybe even flourish in there.

R75, that would be the catalyst for the Woke dummies to Get into WW3

Is women's basketball big enough of a thing in Russia that WNBA players go over there to make money in the offseason?

I always travel with edibles, even internationally. I have walked right past drug sniffing dogs many times, both in the US and abroad. I’m shocked that a dog would sniff out such a tiny amount of weed.

R79, that's at your own risk. When out of the US your fate is in the hands of the territory you're in. I've lived overseas & am always boggled by the amount of travelers who take that chance with testing the leniencies of other governments & their systems of law. The consequences simply aren't worth traveling with a few edibles or a negligible amount of weed. I'm not being judgemental or a prude, but for me that's simply too risky.

Now you have to be careful when taking stuff that seems no big deal into foreign countries. Now they are going to use her to get some kind of leverage against the United States.

r67, but she's an athlete, aren't all Russian athletes taking drugs.

I was in Russia 18:years ago on a train heading to Finland. There were some Koreans on the train smoking. They didn’t stop even when warned by the train conductor that it wasn’t allowed. The train stopped, they were taken off the train by the police and were gone for an hour or two. When they came back later we were told the police took their money and watches but at least they got to leave Russia. Why would you want to break any law there?

"When she was playing college basketball at Baylor, she had a reputation for having bad sportsmanship and being a dirty player. She was suspended for a couple of games for punching a Texas Tech player in the face and breaking her nose. Not that I think she should be held hostage and used as a pawn, but it's not surprising that she ended up in this situation."

It's not? First, we don't know if her bad sportsmanship has continued overseas. Second, she'd hardly be the first poor-sportsman, bully athlete to play in various leagues, including in Russia. She punched someone in the face in college and somehow it's not surprising she's in this very serious situation?

R78 another poster said these female basketball teams in Russia are fronts for money laundering operations.

She in danger gurl!!!

Brittney married another WNBA player, Glory Johnson, in 2015, three weeks after they were both arrested for DV. A month later BG filed for an annulment, the day after Glory announced she was pregnant. Brittney’s messy.

That’s her in the suit. The woman is 6’8” tall. She’s a fricking Amazon.

They love American sports in Russia. China too. It’s hugely popular and big money for everyone.

I bet this shit would never happen to Laura Bush. This kinda shit doesn't happen to former American first ladies.

Russia I a giant hell hole. Just stay the fuck away from there.

Free Brittney!

Play stupid games win stupid prizes. Although I suppose Russia could be lying. Gotta pay to play Brittney.

Leave Brittney alone!

I saw her at a movie theater once. You couldn’t miss her. She was SO TALL.

I still think she has a dick or balls or both.

What a complete fucking retard. Who would bring drugs in or out of Russia during peacetime, never mind wartime? This is so egregiously stupid I don’t give a fuck what happens to her.

A Russian women's prison sure sounds dreary. Is that where she's being held?

I don’t trust the Russians. They’re dirty and they lie. I’m worried about Brittney.

[quote]A Russian women's prison sure sounds dreary. Is that where she's being held?

It might be ideal for a 6’8” lesbian who has a history of beating women up.

Brittney, she's not so innocent

Anyone else hate sports chicks? Big dumb humorless semi-closeted oafs. And those tats...

.6.8 on a woman is grotesque

I don't trust the Russians either, but based on the video with the sniffer dog, and learning the items were in her carry-on bag as opposed to luggage out of her sight, make me believe it was not a set-up. Just a foolhardy decision in a country with no due process

She needs to catch the Midnight Express!

Looks like a hostage video.

They're doing entirely too much and I blame them for being assholes about it. But man, I wish Griner wasn't so stupid to risk it - even if the contraband is fairly minor. She probably got too comfortable because she had played in Russia for years, probably vaped along with people around her and thought nothing of carrying the oil. Now she's fucked because while it is "minor," it's still against the law and there's nothing requiring them to be nice about it and let her go.

Brittney Griner was earning $1.5million per off-season playing for Moscow team that is backed by one of Putin's oligarch friends - six times her WNBA salary

UMMC Ekaterinburg is backed by Andrei Kozitsyn, a mineral tycoon listed among Putin's richest associates.

Fuck off Santa Clausky.

[quote] They're doing entirely too much and I blame them for being assholes about it.

It's a shame Russia doesn't take such proactive measures with its own populace -- Russia has some of the highest numbers of injecting drug users in the world. But suddenly they care about a vape cartridge.

Griner isn"t Russian so whatbout doesn't factor in. And she is not the only American being held there at tbis time.

It's certainly likely that she and most other athletes got what has been referred to as "VIP treatment" and having a vape was always overlooked. She'd worked in Russia nearly a decade, she knew the drill, it's hard to believe she made a mistake like this after traveling in and out of Russia so many times. Either she thought it was fine because it had been before, or she didn't actually have a vape in her luggage.

It's shame that a star WNBA player has to consider playing Internationally at all. $215,000 a year? Fucking LeBron made that much this morning while dropping a deuce.

LeBron puts an exponentially greater number of butts in seats than Brittney does.

True R110. The oligarch provided limos, plush apartments and a pampered lifestyle. That's all over now, for the foreseeable future.

Nobody gives a fuck about women's basketball or women's soccer. That's just the painful truth.

^Little girls do, and their parents. And lesbians love the WNBA.

R115 still not enough to make the WNBA financially independent . The league pretty much lives off NBA handouts .

R116, no doubt but remember they only work three months out of the year so it's actually not that bad for a total niche sport. It's a part time job in all definitions.

Sheila Jackson Lee was being interviewed and said how the Russians were so mean because the customs agent could have simply confiscated Brittney's stash and said 'naughty girl'! and left it at that.

Yeah, just like a US customs agent would have done. FFS

Her detention has been extended until May 19 (at least.)

[quote] The court approved prosecutors' request to extend her pre-trial detention in order to continue investigating her case. Tom Firestone, a former U.S. Justice Department legal resident advisor to the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, said that such delays are standard in Russia and that she may be held without trial for up to a year.

Please keep *her*

[quote]Griner’s family and agents and officials from the WNBA and the Mercury have been mostly mum regarding her arrest and detainment, in hopes of keeping it from becoming a celebrity-political cause, which experts on Russian-American relations say could make it harder to obtain her release — particularly at a time of increased tensions between the two nations over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

With Russia involved I agree with this.

R115 little girls are flocking to volleyball instead. Too many dykes in soccer and basketball.

Maybe it wasn’t hers. Maybe they planted it on her. These are the same people that kill apartment buildings full of children for target practice.

Gurl, please.

R123 is it the video showing it’s found in her luggage with her standing there? I don’t think it has planted. I’m sorry, I don’t really have much sympathy for her. Stupid risk.

I didn't think it was planted at first. But, would Russian authorities do this? Of course they would. I'm not saying if she did or didn't, only that I can believe either scenario. I have a lot of sympathy for her, even if she did stupidly do it.

Griner was working for a Russian oligarch who owned the team and this arrest dates back pre-Ukrainian invasion. She probably fucking did it and would have gotten off but after her arrest, the West put sanctions on the oligarchs. So: he mad!

I don’t know any black people who don’t smoke weed. Those trying to say it wasn’t hers are being ridiculous.

You’re insane r128. I have oodles of black friends, half or more of my circle do not smoke dope.

So dumb to travel with any kind of drug, but I feel bad for her.

PS I think there is a genuine possibility it was planted tho.

"I alone can do it," II.

Ms. Griner was framed, and I think she, and we, are being setup for the ultimate trump move. Guess who, with the guidance of his brilliant bff, would willingly go to Russia and bring home not one, but several American detainees?

We would never hear the end of it.

Yep, I could absolutely see that, R132.

Some may remember the incident in China a few years ago, in which three UCLA basketball players were arrested for shoplifting, a few days prior to Trump's official State visit? Although he jumped up & took credit for it (basically demanding a public "thank you")....Trump had NOTHING to do with their release, or reduction of their charges. Zero. Zip. Zilch. Nada.

By the time he/his administration acknowledged the situation (four days after their arrest) and informed UCLA that they were going to "help"....it had been resolved, more or less. Thanks to Joe Tsai, co-founder of Alibaba & sponsor of the basketball tournament.

The players were back at the team-hotel, charges dropped, and their passports would be returned, eventually. There was a bit of "theater" going on, as part of the agreement. The shoplifters had to remain in Guangzhou for a couple days (at the hotel) after the rest of the UCLA team flew back to L.A. -- to make it look like they were made to sweat a little, or punished, in some small way.

But of course, Trump claimed he was responsible for their freedom, because he asked Xi, at a state-dinner: "So, about these knuckleheads from UCLA....??" (He said Xi didn't seem to be aware of the incident, which is telling). And then, he doubled-down by Tweeting: "I wonder if the UCLA basketball players will THANK me for their freedom??" That was some straight-up-racist, dog-whistle BULLSHIT! He would never have asked that if had it been three WHITE lacrosse players, or volleyball players, from Duke or Michigan.

As a Bruin, I was embarrassed & mightily pissed-off at those guys -- they totally deserved to be called "knuckleheads", and a year-long suspension from the team. But essentially being "forced" to thank DJT for their freedom upon their return to L.A., when they KNEW he had nothing to do with it...?? There was a whole hostage-vibe to it.

Why the fuck would she go over to Russia when there was so much tension about the build-up of Russian forces surrounding Ukraine? Americans were being advised to leave Russia. How greedy is she? And yeah, I believe she did smuggle drugs in. Seems to be a really dumb bitch. She damn well knew she was being paid by an oligarch. Zero ethics.

“in good condition.”

I guess she didn't watch all the after-school specials warning about travelling with drugs or the risk of having them planted. I never brought dope with me on my travels but I still spent my teens and early 20s TERRIFIED at the thought of letting my luggage out of sight for a millisecond in any country, especially the more unsavoury ones.

I have little sympathy for her, particularly after her ignorant wife went on GMA and criticized Biden for not helping get her home saying:

[quote] “I just keep hearing that, you know, he has the power. She's a political pawn," Cherelle Griner said. "So if they're holding her because they want you to do something, then I want you to do it."

I’m sorry but the wife is an idiot. What does she expect the President to do, throw Ukraine under the bus because her wife was greedy and chose to go work in a country which, in addition to everything else, actively persecutes and imprisons gays and lesbians? Griner didn’t need the money. She makes more than enough just from the WNBA and that’s not accounting for her endorsement deals so don’t cry now when you get burned while dealing with people who actively persecute people just like you.

It’s so disconcerting hearing her speak. Her voice is DEEP. She seriously sounds like a man.